Burning Calories
by etmuse
Summary: Arthur tries to do something special and romantic for Merlin...


Merlin prodded suspiciously with his fork at the unidentifiable contents of his plate.

"Did you actually cook this yourself?" he asked Arthur, who had also yet to take a bite.

Arthur nodded. "I did."

Merlin pasted what he hoped was an encouraging smile onto his face. "Great."

Carefully he separated out a small chunk and speared it with the fork, holding it up and regarding it for a few seconds before putting it into his mouth.

It took effort not to spit it out immediately. He chewed tentatively and watched as Arthur took his own first bite; the grimace that appeared immediately on his face told him everything he needed to know.

"Okay, you know that I love you," he started when he finally managed to swallow. "But that… that is why the castle has kitchen staff."

Arthur frowned but nodded. "I thought it would be, you know… romantic."

"Oh, it was," Merlin assured him hurriedly. "It was very romantic, in thought anyway. It just wasn't… edible."

"Can't you just…?" Arthur waved his hands around in obscure patterns in front of his face. "Fix it?"

Merlin fixed him with a look that approached condescension. "No, I can't just." He did his best to imitate the movements Arthur had just made. "Magic is not a fix-all solution to everything. I thought you'd understand that by now. It has its limits, even mine. If it was just undercooked, I could work with that. But I don't even know what you've done to this."

"I know, I know," Arthur grumbled. "It's just…" He sighed and pushed his plate away. "Now I've ruined our anniversary."

"No, you haven't," Merlin told him, smiling across the table in Arthur's quarters. "I wasn't expecting any of this. That you tried is more than enough for me."

"But I ruined dinner," Arthur insisted. "What are we going to eat now?"

"We're not going to starve if we don't eat, Arthur," Merlin pointed out. "I know for a fact that you had enough at lunch to keep you going until breakfast tomorrow."

Arthur sat back. "Are you saying I eat too much?" he asked, voice filled with mock hurt.

"Oh, always," Merlin said, nodding seriously. "It's a good thing you go out and train with the knights so often, or…"

"Or I'd get fat? Is that what you're trying to say, _Mer_lin?" Arthur asked, standing up and stalking around the table.

Merlin shrugged and nodded, completely uncowed by Arthur's advance. "It's definitely a possibility," he confirmed. "Without all that exercise…" He shook his head at Arthur as he was pulled out of his chair by the front of his tunic to stand in front of Arthur. "That gorgeous toned body of yours could disappear just like that."

"My 'gorgeous toned body', huh?" Arthur said, crowding Merlin against the table. "Very shallow of you, Merlin. You're only with me for my body, is that it?"

"Yep. You got me," Merlin nodded. "Nothing to do with your personality; it's all about the body." Emphasising his words, he trailed his fingers across Arthur's chest teasingly.

"I guess I'll just have to keep in shape then, won't I?" Arthur replied, his voice growing husky as he leaned closer and closer. "Although," he whispered against Merlin's cheek, "I can think of a few other ways I could get in that exercise. Ways that are rather more enjoyable than spending a morning fighting my knights."

His hands trailed up and down Merlin's sides and he pressed full-body against Merlin; if Merlin had been in any doubt as to the meaning of Arthur's words – which he hadn't been, he wasn't stupid – his actions would certainly have gotten the message across.

"I'm guessing you want a little help with that?" he murmured, wrapping a hand around the back of Arthur's neck and playing idly with the hair curling at his nape.

"You know me so well," Arthur breathed as his lips crashed into Merlin's, his whole body being thrown into the kiss.

* * *

Rather later, when they had finally made it into bed and were sprawled across each other exhaustedly, Merlin finally remembered what he'd wanted to say much earlier, before Arthur had short-circuited his brain.

"Happy anniversary, Arthur," he said, his words muffled into Arthur's shoulder.

"I love you too," Arthur replied sleepily into his hair.

"Anytime you need any help working off an extra big meal, you know where I am," Merlin continued, his mind jumping randomly through the evening as it slowly shut down to sleep.

He sensed Arthur's smile against his forehead, and felt more than heard Arthur's reply. "Noted."


End file.
